Former Alachua Co. Sheriff's Sergeant Charges Dropped

Published December 11th, 2007

By Gavin Johnson, WCJB TV20 News

The State Attorney's Office isn't sure of any wrong doing, but the Alachua County Sheriff is. Back in October Sergeant Chad Scott was fired after sheriff's investigators say he got paid hourly wages for two different jobs at the same time.

The State Attorney's Spokesperson says they couldn't prove Chad Scott did it, but they couldn't prove he didn't either... so they dropped charges. And while Scott won't be going back to work at the sheriff's office, his former boss disagrees with the state attorney's findings.

Since October Chad Scott says he's been defending himself against allegations that he was getting paid hourly wages for two different jobs at the same time. Now he can stop fighting. Today, lawyers at the State Attorney's Office say they can't prove if scott doubled dipped on purpose, or if it was just sloppy book keeping on his part. Scott says it was an honest mistake.

His attorney Chris Chestnut, says "There isn't a set policy. so it leaves loop holes. I think they're a lot more issues with the overtime, not just Sergeant Scott."

Sheriff Darnell spoke to us by phone saying "The issue and criminal charges are separate from him not working at the sheriff's office. Under administrative policies he violated polices and procedures several times."